The Deal
by AvacadoKatrina
Summary: Ruki hates photo shoots, but her mom will only allow her to not go to them on one condition: she has to have a boyfriend. That's were Ryou comes in.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

* * *

"So will you do it or not?" Makino Ruki pressed impatiently.

"Hmm, I don't know..." Akiyama Ryou grinned and tapped his chin.

"Forget it. I'll ask Jenrya," Ruki cut him off and turned.

"No, no, no! I'll do it! Explain to me again why you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend?"

Ruki sighed. "My mom keeps begging me to do these photo shoots. She said the only way for me to get out of them is to get a boyfriend. Maybe she thinks that it'll make me more girly." She rolled her eyes.

"I see... Wait. Did you just say that you haven't asked Jenrya yet? So sweet of you to make me your first choice, Pumpkin!" he grinned.

"Don't get your hopes up, Hotshot," she cautioned.

* * *

"Mom! I'm home!" Ruki called as Ryou snaked his hand into hers.

"Hello Sweetie!" Mrs. Rumiko Makino greeted. She noticed the handsome young man standing beside her daughter and smiled. "And who might this be?"

Ruki opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted. Ryou bowed as he spoke. "Good afternoon, Ma'am. I am Akiyama Ryou—"

"—My new boyfriend!" Ruki spoke up.

"Oh!" Rumiko was taken slightly aback. "Nice to meet you, then, Ryou."

Ryou smiled politely, but before he could say anything, he was cut off. "Well, this is nice Mom, but we gotta go. I just brought him here to introduce him to you," Ruki muttered as she dragged Ryou out of sight.

"Well, that went well," Ryou smiled widely, then mischievously. "While we're out on a pretend date, I might as well take you on a real one."

"Huh? Wha—" Ruki tried to protest, but was cut off when Ryou started to drag her off forcefully.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! For this fic, I decided to use their Japanese names just because x)


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or McDonalds.**

* * *

Here Ruki was, sitting across from her "boyfriend" in a McDonalds. He had been her rival since that Digimon tournament years ago and she had resented him since then. Right when she thought she was the best, he came along and destroyed that confidence. Though she must admit, he was very handsome. The way his chilling blue eyes contrasted from his perfectly tanned skin sent chills down her spine. And the way his chocolate brown hair— Wait, did she _really _just think that?

"You call this a date?" Ruki raised her eyebrow and took a sip of her soda.

"Don't worry, there's more," Ryou winked a cheeky wink at her. He extended his hand toward her. When she didn't take it, he grabbed hers and started dragging her away again. They walked until they reached a familiar sight— Shinjuku Park.

"A stroll in the park at night. How original," Ruki rolled her eyes.

Ryou ignored that comment. "For the next part, you need to put on a blindfold." He whipped out a maroon handkerchief. Had he planned this? He then put it on her and whispered, his lips brushing against her ear, "it's a surprise."

Ruki's heart raced as he put his hands on her shoulders to steer her in this direction and that. When she was finally fed up enough to take the blindfold off, he beat her to it.

She gasped at the scene in front of her. Somehow, Ryou had led Ruki to a clearing in a part of Shinjuku Park that she had never been in before. Trees formed a circle around the grass, which was dotted with flowers. In the middle was a large rock, about the size of a loveseat. But those weren't what took Ruki's breath away. Filling the dark air were tens and tens of tiny little lights. Fireflies twirled and swirled around, having their own little dance party in the background.

Ryou crossed over to the rock, sat, and motioned for her to follow. As she did, she sighed and said, "Why are you doing this, Heroboy?"

"Doing what?" he frowned.

"This. Taking me on a date, trying to impress me with this scenery—"

"So it's working?" Ryou wagged his eyebrows.

Ruki rolled her eyes. "My point is that you're only my fake boyfriend. You don't need to pretend right now. No one's watching. You've never shown much interest in me before, so why now?"

It was scary how fast Ryou's happy, joking face took on a serious, ominous mask. "Why did you ask me to do this?" he shot back. "You could've asked Jenrya. Or Hirokazu or Kenta. Heck, you could've asked any single guy in their class and he'd agree to it! You seem to really hate me anyways, so why me?"

"I don't hate you," Ruki answered, voice barely above a whisper.

"But you don't like me."

"No," Ruki replied, although something inside her screamed otherwise. "Not like that."

Ryou scowled, then gave a sad smile. This was not what he expected. He was supposed to confess to her underneath the moon and the stars and the little balls of light. She was supposed to say that she felt the same way, then they'd hug and kiss and do other shit couples did. But that didn't matter. One way or another, he'd get her to love him. No matter what it takes.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

* * *

Ruki groggily reached for her phone at her bedside table to check whose text had interrupted her peaceful sleep. Ryou. Of course. She opened the message and her stomach did flips.

_Hey Pumpkin! ;) Good morning! Hope ur day goes great! ;D_

She groaned, then typed her reply.

_Morning idiot. Thx for waking me up. Hope u have a bad day._

Ruki flopped back down on her bed and almost drifted off when her phone sounded again.

_O sry babe. Don't mind me, go back to sleep. Gnight/morning__  
__:)__  
_  
Ruki's cheeks burned from annoyance at the word "babe" and... something else she couldn't explain. She was used to his little pet names for her: Pumpkin, Wildcat. But he had never used that one. Though she wanted to reply back with words that would make a sailor demand for her to wash her mouth out, she obeyed.

After lunch, the doorbell rang. "Ruki, honey, it's for you!" her grandmother called.

Ruki jogged to the door, but slowed down once she saw who it was. Her first instinct was to make some snarky remark, but she resisted since her grandmother was there.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Ruki?" her grandmother raised a brow.

"Oh, I'm sorry Oba-chan. Oba-chan, Ryou. Ryou, Oba-chan," Ruki said, motioning to each of the two.

"Hello, ma'am," Ryou bowed respectfully. "If it is alright with you, may I borrow Ruki for the afternoon?"

"Of course, and no need to be so formal," smiled Ruki's grandmother. "Also, please call me Seiko."

"Thank you, Seiko," Ryou said before grabbing Ruki's hand and stepping out the door.

* * *

"Ryou, I started 'dating' you to get out of photo shoots. Please explain to me why we're here." Ruki carefully asked, trying to keep her temper under wraps.

"Well, being Digimon King entitles me to _some_fame, so I decided to become a male model. And of course I'd want my queen by my side!" Ryou flashed one of his adorably smug grins.

"Oh, whatever. As long as I don't have to be in a picture, I'm fine," Ruki grumbled and crossed her arms.

They walked into the studio and Ryou was immediately rushed to a dressing room. While waiting, Ruki glanced around the room and saw the last person she'd hoped to see there. "Mom?!"

"Ruki, sweetie! What are you doing here?" her mom asked skeptically.

"I'm here with Ryou. He has a photoshoot."

"I'm really starting to like this Ryou. He's gotten you to do something I've been trying to get you to do for years!"

"Huh? Wait, no. I'm not here to—" Ruki tried to explain, but her mom had already called people to drag her to a dressing room. Later, she emerged from it dressed in a silky white sundress that reached down to her knees and a straw hat with a ribbon made of the same material as her dress. She also wore white crocheted Toms. Her long red hair was let down from its usual spiky ponytail and a small amount of eyeliner was applied around her lavender eyes to make them pop.

"...Whoa," Ryou said dumbly as he took her new look in. He was dressed in a plain old white and blue striped T-shirt, khaki shorts, and navy blue tennis shoes.

"Well, this was planned to be a summer photo shoot for Ryou only. However, at the request of Miss Rumiko Makino, it will now be a couple's shoot," announced the photographer to the rest of the crew.

Everyone nodded and/or grunted in agreement, then got to work. Though Ruki hated all of this, she didn't put up much of a fight against it. She went next to Ryou and they did poses you'd see those lovey-dovey couples do: hugging, him holding her while he kissed her on the cheek, etc.

She would never admit it out loud, but being here, doing this with him felt so natural. So good. So _right_. Maybe, just maybe, she could get used to this.

* * *

A/N: Hello readers :P I think I remember Ryo calling Rika something else besides Wildcat and Pumpkin, but I don't remember what :/ And I'm not sure if I spelled "Oba-chan" so if I didn't, just tell me and I'll change it. Hope you liked this chapter! ^^


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

* * *

The photo shoot lasted for two hours before they could change back into their regular clothes and leave.

"Hey Ruki," Ryou grabbed her hand and swung it between them as they walked down the sidewalk. "What do you want to do now?"

"I want to go home," Ruki spat, though strangely not pulling her hand back.

"What?!" Ryou pouted. "But it's so early!"

"I don't care. You know I hate photo shoots and you STILL brought me to one."

"You didn't seem too upset about it earlier," Ryou flashed a cocky grin in her direction.

"It's called acting," Ruki defended, though the pink tint in her cheeks made it hard for her to do so.

"Sure." Ryou smiled knowingly and mockingly.

* * *

Ryou ended up taking Ruki back to Shinjuku Park. They sat on a bench, hands intertwined until Ryou spotted something in the distance. "Be right back," he said and ran off.

After a minute of waiting, Ruki heard an unfortunately familiar sound— the chatter of bitches from her school. She attended an all-girl's private school far away from her friends' school and she couldn't say that she was the happiest there. All the other students were girly-girls who only seemed to care about makeup and gossip. Not her style.

"Ewww, is that Ruki?" Oh no.

"Ewww, is that Miranda?" Ruki shot back.

"Oh, is little Ruki lonely here? Do you miss your friends?" taunted Miranda's sidekick Kyoko with mock-pity in her voice. "Oh wait, you have no friends."

"Whatever," Ruki muttered not wanting to encourage them.

"See? Not even trying to deny it," cooed Miranda.

"OUUUU, hottie approaching!" Kyoko elbowed Miranda. Ruki turned her head to see Ryou returning with an ice cream cone in each hand. Something stirred inside her, but it wasn't the feeling Ryou's presence usually gave her. It was a rotten feeling that made her want to punch both Miranda and Kyoko in their cakey faces.

"Hey there, cutie," Miranda twirled her hair and batted her obviously fake lashes. "You have quite the large appetite, unless one of those ice creams are for me."

"Huh?" Ryou blinked, unaware of Miranda's attempt to flirt with him. Man, was he dense. "Oh, no, this is for my girlfriend. Here you go Ruki."

"Thanks babe," Ruki accepted the ice cream cone, kissed Ryou on the cheek, and then smiled smugly toward her two enemies. "You guys should probably leave now. Wouldn't want you two to be the third and fourth wheels, now would we?" They stomped off without another word, bodies tense and steam almost visibly coming out of their ears.

Ryou took a seat next to Ruki, his red face contrasting with his pearly white teeth. "Maybe I should buy you ice cream more often."

Ruki playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Nah, they just happened to be two sluts from school and I thought that acting like that would piss them off. You know, since they were checking you out and all." The last sentence came out bitterly and Ruki hoped that he wouldn't notice.

But he did. "You sure you weren't jealous?" Ryou nudged her with his elbow and winked.

"Absolutely sure," Ruki said flatly, not able to meet Ryou's charming smiling eyes.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

* * *

Days passed after that day in the park. Those days turned to weeks, which then became a month. Slowly over the course of that time period, they'd gotten closer. Their couple act had become more and more natural. They fit well together, making each other better. Ruki became girlier— she always kept her fiery hair down now and even wore dresses and skirts. Ryou, having always been "perfect," hadn't really changed much, though he was happier (if that was even possible).

Ruki waited in her living room. She had dressed in a short black skirt with black ripped leggings, a white tank top with a navy blue broken heart on it, and black flats. Just because she had gotten girlier, it didn't mean she'd be all pink and frilly.

The doorbell suddenly rang and she ran for it. "Really, Heroboy? Our 'monthsary date' and you don't even bother to dress up?" Ruki shook her head when she saw that Ryou was wearing his usual red turtleneck and dark khakis.

"How sweet of you to doll yourself up for me," he winked and dragged her out of her house.

"Explain to me again why we're even going on a date?" Ruki asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Well, what would people say if we didn't go out for our monthsary?" Ryou taunted.

"Nothing. I'm sure lots of couples don't do anything." she shot back.

"Ah, but Ruki, we AREN'T a couple." He had her cornered. It didn't make sense that they'd go on this date if they weren't together. Yet if she spoke against the statement, she'd be implying things that she either had been denying or not feeling at all. It was the latter. Right?

* * *

Ruki sat across from Ryou in a booth at an Italian restaurant. "Hello, my name is Derek and I'll be your waiter this evening," said a waiter, who seemed to be around Ruki's age, as he put down two menus. His eyes drifted to Ruki. He gave her a flirty smile as he checked her out. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'D like some Pepsi," Ryou said, annoyed with Derek's flirting with _his_Ruki.

"I'd like some iced tea please," Ruki smiled, unaware of the way Derek was staring at her.

Ryou glared at Derek as he walked off. Then, he smiled sadly at Ruki. There was nothing he could do if this guy was flirting with Ruki. They weren't together. He had no right. But there was that fake dating thing. It had gotten less and less fake lately, though. Ryou had hoped that she was at least starting to feel the same way, so he could make her his— officially.

"Something wrong?" Ruki raised a brow.

"N-nothing," Ryou rubbed his neck and gave a nervous laugh.

"O-kay then," she turned back to her menu. She must admit, though, he was really cute all nervous like that. Heck, he was always cute. But just because she thought he was cute, that didn't mean that she liked him that way. Though, those damn butterflies begged to differ.

Derek came back with their drinks. He placed them on the table and turned to Ruki. "Are you ready to order?"

"Um, yeah. Can I please have the Chicken Alfredo?"

"Sure," he smiled, then reluctantly turned to Ryou. " What would you like, sir?"

"I want the Spaghetti with Meatballs," Ryou spat. He waited until Derek left to turn to Ruki and smile. "You really do look beautiful tonight."

"Huh? Oh, uh, thanks," she replied with a slight pink tint to her cheeks. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"I always look like this."

"Exactly why you should've dressed up," Ruki mock-scolded him. They laughed, then silence passed between them until Derek finally came back with their food.

"Here you go," he placed the plates on the table.

"Thank you," Ruki smiled, while Ryou just grunted.

They ate their food and carried an irrelevant conversation. At times, they be laughed so hard, they had to pause from eating so that they wouldn't choke. After they finished, Ryou got up. "Be right back," he said, then walked toward the restroom. As soon as he was gone, Derek, who was at another table, made his way to Ruki.

* * *

Ryou walked out of the restroom and stopped cold when he saw the scene in front of him. His heart sank and head steamed as he watched Ruki laughing with Derek sitting in HIS seat across from her. He stomped toward them. When Derek saw him, he got up and backed away.

"What's going on here Ruki?!" Ryou fumed.

"What? What are you talking about?!" Ruki shot back, confused and taken aback by his sudden anger.

"You were just flirting with that stupid flirty bastard! I thought that after all this time, maybe you felt the same way about me that I feel about you! All the times that you blushed, laughed with and at me, even when we were at that photo shoot or at the park with those girls from your school, you had me hoping!" Ryou exploded, but the next sentence came out ominously emotionless. "I guess I was wrong."

At that moment, he got so close to Ruki, she was sure he'd slap her. He did the the exact opposite— he kissed her passionately. She froze up, eased into it, and ended up kissing back. They stayed like that for a little longer than socially acceptable in public.

Ryou broke away, eyes tearing. "I love you Ruki. I hope you realize that... Goodbye." And with that, he ran out.

Derek walked up with the check, then walked away. Ruki looked at it, trying to comprehend what just happened. On top of it, Derek put a scrap of paper with numbers and the words "call me." No. No, no, no, no, no! What just happened?!

Ruki put down some cash, then ran out with only one thought in mind: 'I love you too Ryou.'


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.**

* * *

Ruki burst through the doors of the restaurant. She frantically searched the parking lot. Ryou was gone and so was his car.

'Where is he?!' Ruki thought desperately. Ryou needed to blow off some steam and he wouldn't do it at his house. No, he wanted to be alone in a place where no one would look... That's it!

_Step, step, step, inhale. Step, step, step, exhale._Ruki sprinted out of city limits and into a cluster of trees. A short while ago, it had started to rain, but the trees provided a bit of protection.

_Step, step, step, inhale. Step, step, step, exhale. _There he was, 10 yards away, sitting on a ledge overlooking Shinjuku. Hope and adrenaline coursed through Ruki and she ran even faster.

_Step, step, step inhale. Step, step, step, ex— SMACK._"RUKI!" Then everything went black.

* * *

Ruki awoke in the backseat of Ryou's car. His jacket was draped over her shoulders and his arms were locked around her body. She looked up at his stern expression.

"Baka," scolded Ryou. Then, he looked into her eyes and his face became expressionless again. "You ran after me in the rain. Are you trying to kill yourself from exhaustion and pneumonia?"

"No. I'm TRYING to get you back," Ruki shot back, then pushed him away.

"You think that you can win me back that easily?" Ryou might as well been a robot because he was showing the emotion of one. "I love you, but I can't take it anymore. You get my hopes up, then crush them down. Just tell me you hate me and I'll get on with my life."

"...I can't tell you that." Ryou scoffed, but Ruki cut him off. "I can't tell you that because that's far from the truth. I love you. I've always loved you."

Ryou sat, mouth gaping, eyes wide. He wanted to say something, but the words were clogged up in his throat.

Ruki took the opportunity to continue. "Honestly, I thought I hated you back when we were younger. You were always so perfect; everything came easily to you. But as the years passed, we got closer. I started to admire how your carefree personality became serious during the hard times, but you still found a way to add humor to the situation. The way our harmless banter became mild flirting. The way you're always looking out for me, no matter how much I told you I didn't need it.

"Then came the day my mom told me about her condition for me to miss the photo shoots. You were the first one that came to mind. And when we made that deal, I started to realize my feelings. My heart would race, my stomach would flip, my cheeks would heat up. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, no matter how much I tried to stay oblivious, a tiny voice in my mind would always scream the truth. I love you. I love you, Ryou."

Ryou finally snapped out of it. He analyzed her face with his previous blank expression. Finally, his face softened and he gave her a sad smile, which grew into a sly one. "Makino Ruki, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"

"Well, I'll have to think about it..." Ruki teased. Then, she kissed him. "Does that answer your question?"

"I don't know... Does it?" he smiled and leaned in for another.

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone! ^^ So that's the end of _The Deal_! Hope you guys had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. LOL, jk, that's cheesy. Seriously though, thanks for reading!(:


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